Yermo is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in San Bernardino County, California, set in the high Mojave Desert about 13 miles east of Barstow along Interstate 15. Its name comes from the Spanish word for wilderness or wasteland, a fitting description of the open, arid country that surrounds it. The town sits just south of the Calico Mountains and roughly halfway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, a position that has shaped its role for more than a century. Yermo was established around 1902 as a railroad and mining support stop, part of the web of desert settlements that grew up around the Santa Fe rail line and the region's mineral districts. Its most significant chapter began in 1942, when a holding and reconsignment point opened to control the shipment of supplies into West Coast ports by rail. That facility evolved into the Yermo Annex of Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, which remains a major local institution today, handling the receipt, maintenance, and shipment of military equipment and supplies. The town's population is small — roughly 1,000 people — and its character is practical and unpretentious. Many residents work at the base or in the rail and logistics industries, and Barstow, a short drive west, provides the area's principal shopping, healthcare, and services. Students attend the Silver Valley Unified School District, which serves a wide swath of the desert including Fort Irwin and the base. For residents, Yermo offers an affordable foothold in the high desert, wide-open space, and quick access to Interstate 15. The surrounding Mojave, with its ghost towns, rail history, and stark mountain scenery, gives the community a distinctive sense of place.